I Am Crucified with Christ
(March 16, 2026)
Many great men and women have said thought-provoking things that challenged
us and motivated us to attempt great things either for ourselves or for God.
Words have the power to change our lives. And nothing on earth has the power
to change us like the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says “the Word of God is like a
double edge sword, discerning the thoughts and motives of the heart.” If you want
to get to know yourself, read the Bible, thoughtfully and prayerfully.
I have been thinking lately about the Apostle Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20, “I
have been crucified with Christ…” For Paul, this was a foundational truth that
undergirded everything in his life. In fact, this spiritual event had to occur before
he could declare the next truth that, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in
me.”
You see, Jesus Christ IS Lord! He will not share that position with anyone or
anything in a person’s life. You and I must be crucified with Christ, that is we must
be so identified with Christ’s death that there remains nothing of ourselves left,
only Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Have you and I been identified with Christ’s death in this way? My friend, another
man with the same name as me, Mike A. Whitney, calls this event, “The Big Yes.”
This is a fact to be believed and received, a one-time decision, and an everyday
decision. We cannot surrender to Christ everyday until we surrender the first
time. After that “Big Yes” it is a matter of many “little” moment by moment
decisions that build upon each other to create a lifetime of faithfulness to Christ.
It all starts with “I am crucified with Christ…” This is a fact that we must reckon to
be true in us because it IS true! The moment we received Christ by faith we were
“baptized into His death so that we could live a new life” (Romans 6:3-4).
So, friends, let us “lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily besets us and
let us run with patience the race set before us. Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author
and Perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-12).
Tell Christ the “Big Yes” and watch what He does in you and with you!